Carlton G. Church

1903-October 7, 1943

Carl was a civilian construction worker on Wake Island, building the Naval Air Station there. When war broke out he passed out ammo, brought food, water and whatever to the Marines manning the shore batteries. I've been told by a few of the survivors that he fought right alongside the Marines when the Japanese invaded the island on Dec 23, 1941. He was one of the 98 construction workers kept on the island as slave labor, then murdered on Oct 7, 1943.

(98) The Marines’ last stand at Wake Island | The Battle of Wake Island (WW2) - YouTube

Shared by Carlton’s great nephew, Philip Millard (USMC)

This is the last picture taken of Carl, taken shortly before he left for Wake in September of 1941. That's his daughter Barbara.

To learn more about the events on Wake Island, here are some suggested books:

Wake Island: An Eyewitness Account by the Commanding Officer by James P. S. Devereux

Given Up For Dead by Bill Sloan

Jim’s Journey: A Wake Island Civilian POW’s Story by L.A. Magnino